Sarah Lees-Collier

Sarah has 20 years’ experience as a Crown Court caseworker. During that time she has qualified as a legal executive and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. She also holds the PSQ accreditation which allows her to represent clients who have asked for the duty solicitor and those facing the most serious allegations.

She has substantial experience of dealing with cases involving cell site and ANPR evidence and the instruction of defence experts. Sarah has previously undertaken preparation on a significant number of benefit fraud cases involving prosecutions by the Department of Work and Pensions.

Additionally, the cases that she has dealt with have qualified as Very High Cost Cases, involving the need for Sarah to prepare the case plans that are a requirement of this type of work. Even when not VHCC, she specialises in complex cases proceeding to trial with large numbers of defendants. She has the ability to assess complex evidence at an early stage without the need to rely on the advocate providing direction, and as a result early preparation including the instruction of defence experts can take place to best advance her clients’ cases.

Clients will always warm to Sarah as she is extremely sympathetic and empathetic in sensitive cases. She has a particular expertise dealing with defendants with mental health, drug and drink issues and instructing experts in that regard that will assist the court but also the client.

Contact:

Nottingham Office:
111 Carrington Street,
Nottingham,
NG1 7FE

Tel: 0115 9599550
Email: sarah.leescollier@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

R v P and others. Murder. The client was one of 9 accused charged with a joint enterprise murder that proceeded to trial.

R v H and others. Murder. The client was one of a family said to be implicated in the murder of a family member followed by disposal of the body. She was represented throughout several days of complex interviews.

R v D and others. Public Disorder. The client was said to be one of the lead figures in the Nottingham Riots, charged with conspiracy to commit violent disorder and involved in the making of petrol bombs used to attack a local police station.

R v Thompson. Rape. The case involved a defence of automatism to a rape allegation, with the client maintaining that the offence was committed whilst he was sleepwalking. The case preparation involved the instruction of a sleep expert who undertook a sleep analysis and confirmed a sleep disorder.

R v Ali and others. Public Disorder. The client was involved in a large multi-defendant incident of disorder.

R v H. Conveying prohibited articles into prison. Unusual outcome of a suspended sentence for Nottingham client in this particular case. Read more here.

R v RB. Conspiracy to supply firearms. Sarah was Crown Court Litigator on a case for a client charged with conspiracy to supply firearms. Extensive preparation included instructing an expert in drill music. At trial, significant evidence was called in our client’s defence, including character witnesses. The jury unanimously acquitted our client of all charges.

Rob Lowe

Rob has been representing clients at the police station for the last 13 years. Born and bred in Chesterfield, he works from our Marsden Street office, having spent half his life working at that site.

He has experience of dealing with the full range of offences from minor thefts to complex frauds and murder, with all other offences in between. In terms of clients, he has represented serving police officers, company directors, animal rights action groups and serving forces personnel. Rob will go into any case, whether at 3am or 3pm, wanting to do the very best for the client.

Rob will provide representation nationwide and has done so, travelling to London, Wrexham, Skegness, Blackpool, Windermere and Lancaster police stations.

Clients get on well with Rob as he has an easy going nature, which also allows him to have an excellent working relationship with the investigating officers from which the client benefits. He is no afraid to do battle with the police when circumstances require.

Rob tries to be different from other police station representatives, and exudes a calm which puts a suspect at ease. He gives very clear advice that is always appropriate to particular circumstances, and can provide advice in a way that any client can understand.

An example of how Rob will approach a case can be found here and he is mentioned in client feedback here. Examples of Rob’s working week providing police station advice can be found here and here.

Contact:

Chesterfield Office:
5 Beetwell Street
Chesterfield,
S40 1SH

Tel: 01246 387999
Email: rob.lowe@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

W. Theft. Leader of animal rights organisation accused of misappropriating funds belonging to the organisation. Case required detailed analysis of the evidence at the investigation stage coupled with very lengthy interviews. The client was eventually refused charge.

P. Indecent Images. School teacher found with a large number of indecent images of children on his computer. A great deal of care and attention was needed, as the client was very vulnerable once the reality of his situation hit home.

A. Murder. Client accused of being involved in a joint enterprise killing of a member of the travelling community.

M. Attempted murder. Serving prisoner accused of attempting to murder a prison officer by wrapping a ligature around his neck.

J. Road Traffic Fatality. Young man involved in a road traffic collision for which he was at fault resulting in the death of his brother. The case involved a great deal of client care and attention, particularly in liaising with distraught family members.

D. Impersonating a Police Officer. High profile client accused of impersonating a police officer by wearing clothing that wrongly led members of the public to believe he was a police officer. Other lawyers and the police felt that the client should accept a caution but the client had a defence. In the event the client was refused charge.

R v B. Section 20 Grievous Bodily Harm. Police station advice provided the starting point for a successful argument for a suspended sentence for this Chesterfield client. Read more here.

R v J. Police Interview. Police station advice given to this Chesterfield client even when the police investigation moved to Skegness police station. Read more here.

Jon Hullis

Jon qualified as a solicitor in 1997 and was a Duty Solicitor from 1999. He is a Higher Courts Advocate who is qualified to represent his clients before the Crown Court and Court of Appeal.

As a result, Jon has substantial experience defending every type of criminal case, providing advice and representation in police stations, Magistrates’ and Crown Courts, and has appeared in several cases in the Court of Appeal and in the High Court.

In addition to his criminal defence cases, Jon works on Regulatory Law cases where he represents the Health and Safety Executive in prosecutions relating to breaches of all aspects of health and safety legislation throughout the country. He often represents the Health and Safety Executive at Coroner’s Inquests. He also represents clients in cases relating to firearms law.

He has extensive experience of defending clients charged with driving offences, from speeding to causing death by dangerous driving. Jon has represented professional drivers and those whose livelihoods depend on having a driving licence. Jon is an expert in the technical defences in cases such as drink and drug driving, including post-driving consumption and spiked drinks. He regularly represents clients in putting forward evidence of “exceptional hardship” to avoid disqualification for having twelve or more penalty points. Jon has successfully made legal arguments for the court to use its discretion not to impose mandatory driving disqualifications on the basis of “Special Reasons” for cases involving drink/drug driving, dangerous driving of Large Goods Vehicles and drink driving on e-scooters.

Jon’s forensic approach to cases means that his skills have also been successfully brought to bear on the more technical kinds of proceedings before the Magistrates’ Court. He has considerable success in defending the more complex cases including prosecutions for Dangerous Dogs and applications for Criminal Behaviour Orders.

Jon has provided in-house training to businesses who operate fleets of vehicles, and given talks to motoring groups and clubs.

Contact:

Nottingham Office:
111 Carrington Street,
Nottingham,
NG1 7FE

Tel: 0115 9599550

Email: jon.hullis@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

Not guilty of failing to provide driver’s details. Business owner found not guilty of failing to provide driver’s details (section 172 Road Traffic Act 1988) after a single written demand from a police officer. Client gave evidence that he had returned the notice with the required information. Magistrates acquitted as they could not be sure that the reply had not been sent.

Representation of Estate Agent – 12 points but no driving ban. Busy and successful estate agent faced a penalty points ban for accumulating 12 penalty points within 3 years. Thorough preparation of evidence to successfully argue that no ban should be imposed due exceptional hardship based on the inevitable impact on the business and the consequent risk of staff redundancies.

Representation of nightclub Door Supervisor. Represented SIA-badged door supervisor charged with assaulting a customer who had been ejected from the nightclub. Video evidence showed that the doorman had not acted in self-defence and would have been convicted if he had a trial. Guilty plea entered and the case then turned on getting the best possible outcome for the client. Thankfully, the court agreed with the mitigation and character references and imposed a Conditional Discharge – the lowest sentence possible.

Possession of shotgun without certificate. Representation in the magistrates’ court of a young farmer whose shotgun certificate had been revoked. Due to an oversight, his change of address had not been notified, meaning the notification had been sent to his former address and he was unaware of the revocation and was therefore in possession of a shotgun without a certificate. Guilty plea and significant mitigation led to a small fine of £93 being imposed.

Representation of shotgun licence holder charged with transferring a shotgun to a non-licence holder and failing to notify the transfer. Successful representations to the prosecutor resulted in one charge being withdrawn. Powerful mitigation persuaded the Magistrates to impose a Conditional Discharge for the remaining offence.

Representation of a retired gunsmith following a police search warrant being executed at his home and the seizure of his collection of more than a hundred antique firearms. Represented at formal police interview under caution. Presentation of evidence and detailed expert submissions to the police led to the return of every seized firearm.

R v P. Court of Appeal. Appeal against sentence. Four year sentence reduced to two years on appeal.

R v W. Court of Appeal. Appeal against sentence. Sentence of 36 months for offence of unlawful wounding reduced to 28 months on appeal.

R v H. Court of Appeal. Appeal against sentence. Sentence of 4 years 8 months for drug trafficking reduced to 4 years on appeal.

R v E. Court of Appeal. Appeal against sentence. Successful appeal for offences of supplying Class A drugs. Sentence reduced from 3 years 4 months to 2 years 9 months.

R v J. Court of Appeal. Appeal against sentence. Successful appeal against prison sentence for historic sexual offence. Replaced with Community Order.

High Court Appeal by Case Stated. Appeal on a point of law against the conviction by Magistrates of client charged with domestic assault. Client was accused of a physical assault on his estranged wife. Following cross-examination of prosecution witnesses by Jon Hullis, Magistrates did not find the physical assault proved, but nevertheless went on to convict of a non-physical assault. Jon lodged an appeal and appeared at the High Court, resulting in the conviction being quashed.

Representation of e-scooter rider for “driving” with excess alcohol. Successful argument of Special Reasons with no driving ban imposed for a student who rode the council-hired e-scooter a short distance with no other vehicles around.

Representation of Large Goods Vehicle driver charged with dangerous driving after his vehicle overturned on an urban roundabout. Successful argument of Special Reasons with no driving ban imposed based on the unusual circumstances involving the operator not supplying appropriate load restraints and wrongly telling the driver that it was safe, with a threat of being sacked if he didn’t obey.

Successful representation of business owner to keep his driving licence. Representation of the owner of a chain of pharmacies who had accumulated 12 penalty points for speeding offences. Thorough preparation and gathering of evidence resulted in successful argument of “exceptional hardship” and the client being able to continue driving.

Speeding – Special Reasons found – No ban or points. Represented director of a security company who overtook an unmarked police car and was seen to drive at over 90 MPH in a 50 limit. Careful preparation of case and supporting evidence. Successful argument of Special Reasons as a result of client’s genuine fear for his safety from the occupants of another car after well documented threats to his life. Resulted in no ban, no penalty points, no fine and no prosecution costs.

VOSA Prosecution. Representing five clients who were HGV drivers accused of a conspiracy to falsify tachograph records resulting from alleged driving without tacho cards inserted.

Security Industry Authority prosecution. Clients were directors of a security company prosecuted by the SIA for using unlicensed security operatives.

Careless Driving. Client was a motorcyclist charged with careless driving after he was involved in a collision that left him with serious spinal injuries.

Dangerous Driving. Client was a type-1 diabetic driver charged with dangerous driving after he suffered a sudden hypoglycaemic episode while driving, resulting in numerous collisions on the M1 and adjoining roads and culminating in a serious collision with a building. A report was commissioned from the country’s leading expert on ‘hypoglycaemia unawareness’ resulting in the Crown Prosecution Service offering no evidence and the charge being dismissed.

Causing Death by Dangerous Driving. Client was a farmer investigated after a motorcyclist died following a collision with his vehicle as he made a right turn. Representation at investigation stage resulted in no charges being brought.

Represented off-duty police officer accused of using Disorderly Behaviour towards police officers. Trial involved cross-examination of police prosecution witnesses and detailed presentation of CCTV evidence that proved the client’s innocence. Client acquitted.

Representation of driver charged with causing the death of a motorcyclist by dangerous driving and whilst uninsured. Also, representation of her husband for permitting her to drive whilst uninsured.

David Gittins

Partner and criminal defence solicitor David Gittins is a perfect example of this firm’s wish to recruit with a view to training the Solicitors and Partners of the future. After an initial period as a paralegal, David undertook his training as a solicitor with Fletchers solicitors before qualifying as a solicitor in 2008 following the creation of VHS Fletchers Solicitors.

David has always specialised in criminal law, becoming a duty solicitor shortly after qualification and in more recent years has had responsibility for training a number of trainee solicitors within the firm, all of whom are flourishing in their roles as Criminal Defence Solicitors.

David has partnership responsibility for managing our Chesterfield office and wider involvement in the managing of the firm, notably across Derbyshire. His organisational skills mean that he can divide his time effectively between his management role and providing representation for his clients at the Police Station, Magistrates’ and Crown Courts.

Our clients will know that David is diligent, efficient, and hard-working. Often, he will spend time outside office hours to get work completed to ensure clients cases are fully prepared for the next hearing. David has embraced the introduction of digital and remote working. As a result, he can respond to clients quickly wherever he is in order to answer questions, deal with concerns and put clients at ease.

Once a client has met David, they will value the fact that he is straight talking and approachable, whether they meet him in a formal setting such as in the Police Station, in Court, or in Chesterfield town centre simply passing the time of day.

David will explain any case without the need to use complex legal terms. This ensures that clients fully understand all aspects of their case and feel comfortable in the often unusual environment in which they find themselves.

David’s strengths as a lawyer include examining each case on its own merits. He will make sure that there is evidence to prove each aspect of a case rather than taking the police or prosecution word for it. He will identify and focus on the true issues in any case, rather than becoming distracted by issues that cannot influence the outcome. His advocacy also invites any tribunal to identify with his client, meaning that each case is about his clients’ unique set of circumstances, whether that is a defence, the often complex reasons for committing a crime, or their family or other relevant situation. Each case becomes more than a simple application of any relevant guideline.

Contact:

Chesterfield Office:
5 Beetwell
Chesterfield,
S40 1SH

Tel: 01246 387999
Email: david.gittins@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

R v C Public Order Offence. Magistrates’ Court prosecution arising from the national unrest during the summer of 2012. Despite allegations by police witnesses that the client was involved, he was acquitted.

R v D Manslaughter. Dealt with the preliminary stages of the case at the police station and the Magistrates’ Court. Bail was granted despite opposition from the prosecution, notwithstanding the fact the client had left the country between the incident and arrest.

R v K International Drug Conspiracy. Dealt with the investigation stage of a multi-handed drug conspiracy involving the importation of drugs into the UK through Columbia, Costa Rica, Belgium and Holland. The clients were interviewed in various police stations and prison locations during the complex investigation.

R v N Assault. The client was a long term prisoner who on the day he was due to move prisons was accused of assaulting an officer in his cell. The majority of the incident was witnessed by another prison officer, and both officers gave evidence at trial. The client was acquitted.

R v S Road Traffic Sentence. The client had 208 offences on his record including 58 instances of disqualified driving. For this most recent offence of disqualified driving he received a community order.

R v S Robbery Flawed Facebook identification exposed in this Youth Court trial leading to not guilty verdict. Read more here.

R v J Grievous Bodily Harm. Suspended sentence order in the Magistrates’ Court for GBH allegation. Read more here.

R v P Suspended Sentence Order Court persuaded to allow a further chance despite offending during the currency of a suspended sentence order. Read more here.

R v D No Case to Answer Careful preparation of trial and limited questioning allows successful submission of no case to answer. Read more here.

Derek Brown

Derek is a true criminal law specialist. He is a Duty Solicitor, and has substantial experience in all areas of criminal law. He advises clients from all walks of life, providing representation in the police station, Youth and Magistrates’ Courts.

Those that work with him know that that although he is extremely hard working he manages to combine this with a relaxed approach that, along with his ability to provide practical advice and sensible solutions, puts his clients at ease. Derek believes that these are all important qualities, recognising that police investigations and court proceedings can be very difficult experiences for those involved.

His strong work ethic and easy manner proves popular with clients, and as a result he has a tremendous client following, with clients not hesitating to seek his services again or refer friends or family to him if they are in legal difficulties.

Derek has provided advice in very serious cases that have made both local and national headlines. These include large scale drug conspiracies, murder, armed robberies and other serious firearms offences such as drive-by shootings. He is a firm believer that advice provided at the police station is of great importance to a case as a whole, and will help direct police investigations and the progress of any court case. As a result, Derek is committed to providing advice to clients 24/7.

Contact:

Nottingham Office:
111 Carrington Street,
Nottingham,
NG1 7FE

Tel: 0115 9599550
Email: derek.brown@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

R v J Terrorism. The client was a foreign national arrested on suspicion of terrorism. Successful representations were made that the consultation booth did not comply with the Codes of Practice in terms of confidentiality. The client was eventually refused charge.

R v B Bad Character Evidence. The client was a man with a substantial criminal record in excess of 100 offences of dishonesty. Despite the evidence being admitted, the client was acquitted of a further offence of dishonesty.

R v C Drug Supply. Advice given at the police station and subsequent successful bail application made for a client said to be involved in drug supply with a value of £100 000. Argument accepted that the true value of the amphetamine was only £1300.

R v D Public Disorder. Represented a client said to have taken part in citywide disorder during the summer of 2012. Despite evidence placing the client at the scene successful representations were made that he could not be implicated in the disorder and no further action was taken.

R v G Road Traffic Offence. Successful argument against a totting disqualification allowed the hard-working client to keep both of his jobs.

Helen Lees

Helen qualified as a Solicitor in 1995, joining VHS Fletchers in 2004 having already specialised for 11 years in criminal defence work at another local practice. She became a Duty Solicitor in 1996 in Nottingham and began to specialise in working with young people who fund themselves both in the police station and in the Youth Court.

She has experience of defending those charged with offences ranging from shop theft to murder, and is aims to provide exceptional client care whatever the charge may be. She is an able advocate and she enjoys the challenge of conducting trials.

In 2014, she branched out from her daily appearances in the Magistrates and Youth Court and joined the regulatory team at VHS Fletchers. She prosecutes for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a national basis, in complex and serious cases. She is part of a well-regarded team who undertake this work for the HSE, and now appears at inquest hearings representing the HSE, as well as prosecutions in Magistrates and Crown Court. Her extensive experience in defending in the first part of her career, has proved invaluable in providing advice on procedure and evidence in regulatory prosecutions.

In the time that she has been in the regulatory department, Helen has undertaken a wide range of prosecutions including the prosecution of a company who failed to protect its employees during asbestos removal, to prosecutions of companies following serious and fatal accidents sustained at work, and prosecution of gas fitters who are not registered, and undertake defective work.

Contact:

Nottingham Office:
111 Carrington Street,
Nottingham,
NG1 7FE

Tel: 0115 9599550

Email: helen.lees@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

R v C Historic Sexual Abuse. The client was a head teacher charged with historical abuse allegations. Advice and representation provided from the police station through to trial where the client was acquitted

R v DZ Attempted Murder. A vulnerable Chinese national who had been trafficked to the United Kingdom and who spoke no English was charged with an attack on a madam running a brothel. The Crown were persuaded to accept a lesser charge of s20 Wounding.

R v SS Conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The Client was interviewed unrepresented in the police station but diligent post charge investigations led to the interviews being ruled inadmissible due to the police’s actions.

R v K Murder. This client was extremely vulnerable due to his physical and learning difficulties combines with a lack of English. The case involved spending 4 days with him at the police station during the interviews, providing advice and support to him from that point through to sentencing.

R v A CCTV. A youth with no previous convictions was charged with robbery. Thorough preparation and analysis of the CCTV footage that had been available to the police from the outset showed that her client could not have committed the offence.

R v C Assault. The client was a care home worker of good character charged with assaulting a resident during an outing. He was found not guilty after trial.

R v N and S Regulatory defence. A company and an individual director were prosecuted for serious breaches of fire regulations with regard to a student lettings development. A custodial sentence for the Director was avoided.

Irene Tolley

Irene has been undertaking criminal work for about 40 years, initially assisting clients at the police station, preparing Magistrates’ Court cases and undertaking Crown Court litigation. She headed the Crown Court department at VHS until 2007.

She holds the PSQ permitting her to represent clients in the police station who have requested the Duty Solicitor.

Since 2007, Irene has concentrated upon providing quality advice and representation in prison law matters. She is a well-known representative at many prisons across the country owing to the length of time that she has been involved in criminal work.

Her passion about prison law will be obvious to all clients who meet her, as will be her ability to deal with a wide range of issues arising from a client’s situation in custody. These can include parole, recall, adjudications or re-categorisation. Initial advice will always be given as to whether legal aid is available to assist with these matters, but if not then she will undertake the work at competitive private rates.

Irene has had significant successes undertaking advocacy before the Independent Adjudicator and Parole Board. Where appropriate she will select skilled independent counsel to make such representations on a client’s behalf. In addition, she has successfully fought challenges by way of Judicial Review against prison governors, the Parole Board, the Secretary of State for Justice and Independent Adjudicators.

Irene is a member of the Association of Prison Lawyers.

Contact:

Nottingham Office:
111 Carrington Street,
Nottingham,
NG1 7FE

Tel: 0115 9599550
Email: Irene.tolley@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

Case of J. Successful in persuading the Parole Board to release the client on parole even though he had only just been downgraded from Category A status two weeks before. He had served 15 years, all of that time within the High Security Estate.

Case of B. Successful Judicial Review of a decision of an Independent Adjudicator who had imposed an additional sentence upon a serving prisoner. The sentence was quashed.

Case or P. Successful application for client to be moved to open conditions. Read more here.

Case of B. Successful application for release on parole despite lack of support by relevant parties. Read more here

Jameel Malik

Nottingham criminal solicitor — Nottingham crime solicitor Jameel Malik

A Nottingham man born and bred, Jameel has been representing clients at the police station since 2012. He qualified as a solicitor in the summer of 2016, following his successful training with VHS Fletchers solicitors.

During his time with this firm he has gained experience in dealing with the full range of offences from homicides, drug and sexual offences, immigration offences, frauds and driving offences.

Jameel has acted for a wide range of clients from actors, footballers, business men, students, foreign nationals, vulnerable adults, youths and all walks of life.

He has travelled all over the country to represent clients, including Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, London and Manchester. Jameel is diligent and hard-working, and will bring his best to the police station in and out of normal office hours.

Jameel is capable of building a good rapport with all clients. He is a good listener and always put the client’s needs first. He won’t be rushed by pressure from the police, and will battle with the police when necessary in his client’s best interests.

Duty Solicitor Qualification

Jameel has obtained his duty solicitor qualification which will entitle him to have a place on the Nottingham duty rota from January 2017. This builds on his police station accreditation (PSQ) which has allowed him to represent clients at the police station for the full range of offences. He can now advise all clients, whether they come to the firm due to a specific request for our advice or through the duty solicitor scheme.

Crime Solicitor Fluent in Punjabi and Urdu

Jameel is fluent in Punjabi and Urdu which gives him a clear advantage when dealing with those client’s where English is not their first language. He is able to give clear advice that is appropriate to particular the circumstances, tailoring the manner of that advice to a client’s particular vulnerabilities. He knows when a client’s interests are served by staying silent, and when by them answering questions.

Contact:

Nottingham Office:
111 Carrington Street,
Nottingham,
NG1 7FE

Tel: 0115 9599550
Email: Jameel.malik@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

A. Production of Cannabis. Client found with several cannabis plants in his address. Notwithstanding the sentencing guidelines, successful representations were made to allow the client to be given a police caution.

D. Murder. Police station advice given where the client was accused of being involved in a murder where an address had been targeted and fire-bombed.

A. City Centre Violence. The client, who was a vulnerable adult, had been accused of assaulting members of the public on a night out in the city centre.

S. Football Related Violence. The client had attended a football match where he had been accused of running on to the football pitch and assaulting a player.

M. Fraud. The client had been duped into providing her details to purchase prestige cars and secure large loans. This included detailed analysis of complex financial evidence combined with lengthy interviews with client.

Q. Knife Crime. The client was accused of being in possession of a knife in a public place. It was correctly identified that the client had a lawful defence that was put forward in interview.

Jim Buckley

Jim joined VHS Fletchers in 2001 having qualified as a solicitor in 1991. After gaining years of experience dealing with clients from the police station through to the conclusion of Crown Court cases, he now specialises in representing clients across the country in the police station and the Magistrates’ Court.

Since joining the firm, Jim has worked on a number of serious criminal cases which, of note, involve murder, manslaughter, rapes and serious sexual assaults.

Jim has concentrated his time predominantly on appearing on a daily basis in the Magistrates’ Court.

His substantial experience allows him to boast of an excellent reputation as an intelligent advocate, securing an impressive acquittal rate at trial as well as notable results when dealing with sentences and bail applications, which no doubt influences clients when they return to him for advice and representation or recommend him to friends and associates. A particular specialism is the forensic analysis of the legality of police behaviour in any given case, analysing whether there are opportunities to exclude evidence secured by unlawful means.

Jim is an expert on offences relating to football matches. He has considerable success in representing clients charged with offences alleged before, during or after matches. He is experienced in defending applications for Football Banning Orders.

He also has a reputation for being able to represent clients who can be considered challenging and with clients with mental health difficulties.

Jim is a Duty Solicitor and has held the Higher Rights Qualification permitting him to provide representation to his clients before the Crown Court.

Contact:

Nottingham Office:
111 Carrington Street,
Nottingham,
NG1 7FE

Tel: 0115 9599550
Email: jim.buckley@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

R v B Murder. Client accused of murder by way of injecting a fellow drug user with heroin. An acquittal was secured.

R v C Murder. A case of a man with no prior criminal involvement who was accused of murder of his partner and whose first court appearance was therefore on a murder charge.

R v T. Successful Defence in Football Law case. Our client was charged with a public order offence for allegedly shouting a homophobic insult at a Nottingham Forest player. Successful representation at trial led to acquittal after expert cross-examination of police officer witnesses.

R v W. Sexual Offences. A multiple rape allegation involving alleged rapes from a number of counties and a series of trials.

R v C. Domestic Violence. A serving prison officer was accused of a domestic assault. An acquittal was secured after trial had been adjourned four times.

John Young

John has over 30 years’ experience working as a defence solicitor within the criminal justice system. Having qualified in 1983 he worked initially in general practice dealing with both contentious and non-contentious matters. He then moved to specialise in litigation and by 1992 was the partner in charge of the criminal department at Pinders solicitors.

John is a very experienced and trusted advocate. He defends clients from diverse backgrounds and across all ages who face a wide range of offences. He also has extensive experience of representing clients at the police station and in other types of investigations such as those by the DWP and local authorities.

He has been a Duty Solicitor at both the police station and Magistrates’ Court since the very early years of those schemes and was a member of the Derby Duty Solicitor Committee until it was disbanded.

Across the years John has developed many valuable contacts with other agencies within the criminal justice system, such as the Probation Service and Youth Offending Team. This, together with his wealth of knowledge and experience, has made John a respected advocate. He is approachable and candid in his dealings with clients, and robust when representing them.

Contact:

Derby Office:
8 St Mary’s Gate,
Derby,
DE1 3JJ

Tel: 01332 546818
Email: john.young@vhsfletchers.co.uk

View our people

Find out about our services

Noteable Cases

R v T. Animal Cruelty. Represented and 80 year old woman and her daughter prosecuted for persistent mistreatment of a herd of ponies.

R v S. Murder. Litigator in a case involving a knife attack on several customers in a Derbyshire pub.

R v J. Murder. Litigator in a case of murder arising from a stabbing after a family dispute over pieces of frozen chicken.

R v A and others. Sexual offences. Litigator in relation to the first prosecution in the East Midlands of a sex-ring involving the grooming of vulnerable young females.

R v R. Local Authority Prosecution. The client was alleged to have deliberately introduced unfit meat into the human food chain.

R v B. Manslaughter. The client was alleged to have undertaken a revenge attack following and incident of road rage, throwing a brick through the deceased’s window leading to his death.

R v T. Burglary. An unusual case where the client was a security guard filmed committing a burglary on premises he was supposed to be guarding, being capture on the premises’ CCTV.

R v J. Breach Restraining Order. Immediate prison sentence avoided for client with a particularly poor record for similar offending, while on community orders for the same offences. Read more here.

R v I. Early Guilty Plea. Suspended sentence order secured for client facing four assault charges including ABH. Read more here.

Archives

Sarah Lees-Collier

Contact:

Archives

Rob Lowe

Contact:

Archives

Jon Hullis

Contact:

Archives

David Gittins

Contact:

Archives

Derek Brown

Contact:

Archives

Helen Lees

Contact:

Archives

Irene Tolley

Contact:

Archives

Jameel Malik

Duty Solicitor Qualification

Crime Solicitor Fluent in Punjabi and Urdu

Contact:

Archives

Jim Buckley

Contact:

Archives

John Young

Contact:

menu